Hey guys,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re going to be
discussing Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore, and the curse placed on Dumbledore after the destruction
of the Resurrection Stone & Marvolo Gaunt’s ring.
During Dumbledore’s investigation in to Voldemort’s horcruxes, he deduced that the
Gaunt Shack in little Hangleton could be a good place to search for Horcruxes - given
its significance in Voldemort’s past. When he found the shack, Dumbledore successfully
got past the enchantments protecting the shack and discovered a golden box holding a ring
- Marvolo Gaunt’s ring. Upon inspection of the ring, Dumbledore recognised the symbol
of the Deathly Hallows on the ring's black stone and recognised it as the Resurrection
Stone, something for which Dumbledore had searched for the greater part of his life.
With hopes of reviving dead family members (particularly his sister Ariana, he was suddenly
blind to the ring’s status as a horcrux, and put it on his hand. This of course released
the deadly curse of Marvolo Gaunt’s ring, and the curse quickly began to spread throughout
Dumnbledore’s body, starting with the hand that he placed the ring on.
After realizing what the ring had done to him, he used the sword of godric gryffindor
(which was imbued in basilisks venom) to destroy the ring and crack the resurrection stone
- destroying it as a horcrux. However, the destruction of the ring did not mean that
Dumbledore was cured from the effects of the curse, and it continued to spread throughout
his body. When inflicted by the curse, it was obvious that something was wrong with
Dumbledore- his lifeforce had been effected, and something was clearly wrong with his hand.
So, given that Dumbledore was so obviously cursed, it seems reasonable to assume that
Voldemort might have been able to recognize what had happened to him. By seeing Dumbledore,
shouldn’t Voldemort have known what had happened to his horcrux? Surely if Voldemort
had caught on then this would have complicated things-as Voldemort would have become aware
of the fact that his horcruxes were being targeted.
There are a few issues with this: First, the curse on Dumbledore’s hand may not have
been something that Voldemort was even familiar with. There is lots of dark magic in the magical
world, and many of it preceded lord Voldemort. Though he was knowledgeable and powerful,
it’s highly unlikely that he knew everything that there was to know about dark magic, and
to assume that he would recognize every curse is unreasonable.
“The wrappings fell open. The face was translucent, pale, sunken, yet almost perfectly preserved.
They had left his spectacles on the crooked nose: he felt amused derision. Dumbledore’s
hands were folded upon his chest, and there it lay, clutched beneath them, buried with
him.
Had the old fool imagined that marble or death would protect the wand? Had he thought that
the Dark Lord would be scared to violate his tomb? The spider-like hand swooped and pulled
the wand from Dumbledore’s grasp, and as he took it, a shower of sparks flew from its
tip, sparkling over the corpse of its last owner, ready to serve a new master at last.”
The excerpt above depicts Voldemort violating Dumbledore’s tomb in his acquisition of
the elder wand. It paints a clear visual picture of Dumbledore’s hands folded upon his chest,
and it’s never indicated that Voldemort even noticed his hands. What this tells us
is that the curse on Dumbledore’s hand was never something that Voldemort had even considered
- he had no idea what had happened to Dumbledore. And even if Voldemort did notice the curse,
he would have just assumed that it was from something completely unrelated to him.
Additionally, before seeing Dumbledore in his tomb, the last time that Voldemort saw
Dumbledore was when he dueled him in the Ministry of Magic - which was at the end of book 5.
This was before Dumbledore had acquired the stone, which occurred sometime between books
5 and 6, so Voldemort would have never actually seen a LIVE Dumbledore suffering from the
curse. Voldemort was also far too arrogant, and even if he had seen Dumbledore alive and
suffering from the curse, he never would have made the connection to his horcruxes.
"I believe not. I believe that Voldemort is now so immersed in evil, and these crucial
parts of himself have been detached for so long, he does not feel as we do. Perhaps at
the point of death he might be aware of his loss..."
And that’s it for this video! If you enjoy the content please be sure to like the video
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Until next time
YER A WIZARD ARRY